Video: Witnesses recall Michael Jackson’s final hours

Closed captioning of: Witnesses recall Michael Jackson’s final hours

>>it was another day of powerful testimony at the trial of
michael jackson
's doctor on wednesday as new details emerged about the singer's final moments with nbc's
jeff rossen
in
los angeles
with more on this, jeff, good morning to you.

>> reporter: good morning to you from
los angeles
. it's all coming out now, all the things
michael jackson
never wanted to get out, all the things he spent his entire life to keep private, how he lived
behind closed doors
. no question about it, the most emotional testimony yet of this trial, and it's only day two so far, came from
michael
's
body guard
who described the scene as
michael
died inside his bedroom and how his kids were right there watching and crying. in the weeks after
michael jackson
's death, she was the beacon of strength.

>>paris
was on the ground bound up crying and prince was just -- he was standing there and he was just -- he just had a real shocked, you know, just slowly crying type of look on his face.

>>paris
was actually on the floor?

>>yes.

>>that's powerful testimony.

>>the prosecution has a challenge in creating emotion in this case. no better way to do it than bring in the children and take away the propofol and medical testimony and make it about kids and the loss of their father.

>>he said mr.
jackson
had a bad reaction. i don't know what you presume when you hear that but when i hear someone had a bad reaction i don't think anything fatal, me, personally, and i --

>> reporter: now the legal team is mounting an aggressive
defense
pointing the finger at another
doctor whom
they claim was also medicating
jackson
with
demerol
.

>>he's the greatest entertainer in the world.

>> reporter: the
defense
pointed back to that recording of
jackson
sounding incoherent just weeks before his death.

>>i've never seen nothing like this in my life. go. go.

>>when you left dr.
klein
's office have you observed him sometimes to talk slow?

>>sometimes when we'd leave he would talk slow like that.

>> reporter: dr.
klein
, who has denied doing anything wrong in treating
jackson
, has not been charged with any crime. how many hours a day you working on this case?

>>every hour that i'm not sleeping i'm working on this case.

>> reporter: charles unger is on conrad
murray
's
defense
team and sat down for an exclusive interview. a lot of people heard that audiotape and said what doctor in his right mind would continue to medicate somebody in this kind of condition?

>>dr.
murray
's goal was to get him off it. you have these competing medications,
demerol
by day which is keeping him up and then propofol and lorazepam by night, which is putting him to sleep. that's a tough way to live.

>>that's how
michael jackson
was living.

>>it really was.

>> reporter: he says
michael jackson
was $400 million in debt. and needed this comeback tour. but without sleep he couldn't rehearse, putting the entire show in jeopardy.

>>he was apparently willing to do whatever he needed to do to find rest.

>> reporter: and your contention is he would have done anything including giving himself propofol and lorazepam.

>>without a doubt. and that combination is why
michael jackson
is not here today.

>> reporter: once again,
michael jackson
's family, including his mother in court yesterday, expected in court every single day to hear it all. on the stand today another
big day
of testimony. four different witnesses, ann, including
michael jackson
's
personal chef
, the
body guard
who actually called 911 and is on those tapes, and the two paramedics who responded to the scene that day.

>>all right.
jeff rossen
, thank you so much.
savannah guthrie
is today's legal correspondent and
star jones
is a former prosecutor and veteran legal commentator. good morning to both of you good morning.

>>the prosecution is clearly trying to establish that the loss of
michael jackson
was not just the loss of an entertainer. he is trying to create this kind of compassion.

>>i think when you have that testimony from the
body guard
who saw
paris
crumpled in a ball as her father lay dying if not
already dead
on the bed and you have the older son looking in kind of this stunned silence, it does create a very sympathetic view of the events here. as we talked about yesterday,
michael jackson
has a lot of baggage and people, you know, they have to remember this is a real person that died.

>>but he is a dead father right now.

>>yes.

>>in the eyes of the jury.

>>the children humanize him.

>>it's been effective that way but at the same time the prosecution is also trying to establish that dr.
murray
was reckless and negligent.
michael
's
personal assistant
testifying dr.
murray
never even actually called 911. this has got to be a very damning bit of evidence.

>>they are, the prosecution is very skillfully building a block -- almost like legos of levels of
gross negligence
and at any given moment you can find any one element of
gross negligence
from not calling 911 to leaving a patient unmonitored to not having the monitoring equipment to not having
life saving
equipment to asking
someone else
do you know how to do cpr. every single step, even goes back to ordering the propofol to his girlfriend's house not to an authorized clinic. you've got
gross negligence
every which way you turn.

>>what is interesting about it, though, star is right. the prosecutor is building this
piece by piece
. on any given piece of evidence the
defense
may have what they consider to be a legitimate explanation. for example the doctor could say i didn't call 911, you know, i was trying to attend to his care. i was trying to take care of him. there's always a legitimate explanation but when you add it all together, you add up the prosecution's pieces of evidence that's where you get a more compelling story of guilt.

>>what about if you add up all together how many drugs
michael jackson
we're now hearing was taking? we just heard from this member of the
defense
team and the argument is going to be in court that
jackson
was taking
demerol
to be up and propofol to be down as well as his other drug called lorazepam to sleep. so what seems to be happening here is the
defense
is painting a picture of an addict, and that -- could that be effective? it sounds like it could be.

>>i think the
defense
is going to make a very good case for
michael jackson
was a working, functioning addict the day before he died. but the interesting thing is going to be the toxicology shows very clearly what was in his body at the time of the death and what caused his death. and that's why dr.
murray
is the only doctor that is on trial right now. no matter what dr.
klein
gave him in the days or weeks before months before, if that was not what killed him, that's not relevant. that's why he's not testifying.

>>it may well establish that
michael jackson
was an addict but that doesn't necessarily absolve conrad
murray
of the
duty of care
he owed to
michael jackson
and that is the crux of the issue.

Making a statement

Fans show off T-shirts emblazoned with "Thriller Killer" before the sentencing hearing of Dr. Conrad Murray on Nov. 29, 2011. Murray was sentenced to four years behind bars after being found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the death of his patient, Michael Jackson, on June 25, 2009.
(Jason Redmond / Reuters)
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Her verdict is already in

A fan of Jackson holds a sign outside the Los Angeles Criminal Courts building during the first day of jury deliberations on Friday, Nov. 4.
(Toby Canham / Getty Images)
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LaToya's arrival

LaToya Jackson arrives with Rick and Kathy Hilton, the parents of Paris Hilton, rear, for the reading of the verdict in Murray's trial in Los Angeles on Monday, Nov. 7.
(Jason Redmond / Reuters)
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Judging him to a tee

A demonstrator stands outside the courthouse during the opening day of Murray's trial in the death of Jackson in Los Angeles on Tuesday, Sept. 27. The trial is attracting the usual media and fan spectacle associated with high-profile court proceedings in L.A.
(Danny Moloshok / Reuters)
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No sunny disposition

Michael's sister La Toya Jackson leaves the courthouse on Monday, Sept. 27. "Michael was murdered, and although he died at the hands of Dr. Conrad Murray, I believe Dr. Murray was a part of a much larger plan," La Toya has said.
(Frederick M. Brown / Getty Images)
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Missing Michael

Jackson fan Bristre Clayton of Las Vegas stands outside court during the trial of Murray. The doctor has pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter and faces four years in prison and the loss of his medical license if convicted.
(Jason Redmond / AP)
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For his brother

Michael's brother Jermaine Jackson arrives at the courthouse in Los Angeles on Tuesday, Sept. 27. "I just feel like it took so long to arrest this guy," Jermaine complained last year about the legal action against Conrad Murray.
(Jason Redmond / AP)
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Lasting impression

A demonstrator with tattoos of Jackson stands outside the Los Angeles Criminal Courts building during the opening day of Murray's trial.
(Danny Moloshok / Reuters)
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In the doctor's corner

Tough day in court

Michael's sister and brother -- Janet and Randy Jackson -- leave the courthouse on Monday, Sept. 27. When asked this past February on TODAY if she still believed Murray was culpable, Janet replied, "Mmm-hmm. And that's all I'm going to say. I do. I really do."
(Frederick M. Brown / Getty Images)
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Seeking justice

No replacing Michael

A fan dressed as the King of Pop makes a peace sign outside the Los Angeles Criminal Courts building where the trial of Murray is expected to last five weeks.
(Robyn Beck / AFP - Getty Images)
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In a highly-anticipated speech to Congress Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu argued that a potential nuclear deal being negotiated by major powers including the United States "paves Iran's path to the bomb."